It is unlikely that UN member countries will be able to start working on the mandate of UN peacekeeping mission in Donbas until the middle of summer of 2018. Volodymyr Yelchenko, the permanent envoy of Ukraine in the UN said this as quoted by the Voice of America.

'I don't think we can expect the beginning of work on the mandate for this operation', he said.

The Ukrainian diplomat added that even if Russia agreed to cooperate, the Kremlin still would not recognize itself as a warring side, offering to negotiate with leaders of the self-proclaimed 'republics' in eastern Ukraine.

'The UN General Assembly's decision is not obligatory. So I don't think it will do any good, except for moral pleasure. I'm not saying this is the road to where. But this is not the way of practical implementation of the idea of the Ukrainian president to create and place the UN peacekeeping mission in Donbas', he said.

According to Yelchenko, even if all these problems are solved, there's still a mission that needs to be shaped. 'What kind of country would send the troops to a hot spot, where they use tanks, cannons and artillery? Who would go there? Of course, it won't happen,' he said.

Russia has been protesting against Ukraine's demand to deploy the UN peacekeeping mission across the entire division line in Donbas, as well as on the militant-held section of the Ukrainian border.